Motivational speaker Andres Lara, “The Cuban Guy” speaks to students Tuesday night in the Kanza Room of the Memorial Union. Lara’s presentation was part of the Hispanic Heritage Month Extravaganza 2011 Series. Chris Franklin/The Bulletin

Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica – all of these countries in Latin America celebrate their independence within four weeks of each other.

Because of this, in 1988, President Ronald Regan declared Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 National Hispanic Heritage Month, said Manuel Requenes, sophomore biology major.

In order to recognize this celebration of Hispanic culture, the Hispanic American Leadership Organization is hosting the Hispanic Heritage Month Extravaganza.

“By celebrating your heritage, you celebrate the challenges and triumphs your relatives, blood, and people have gone through,” said Juan Rosales, HALO president and junior international business administration major. “(They have) made it possible for you to be where you are now.”

The series has offered a variety of activities and events, including a Latin American Zumba class in the Student Recreational Center. HALO also sponsored a poster contest where Emporia public school students aging from elementary to high school could draw a poster about why they think Hispanic Heritage Month is meaningful with the winning artwork put in a campus wide showcase. They could also win a chance to be featured in The Gazette.

“Hispanic Americans should be just as proud of being Hispanic as they are of being American,” Rosales said. “It is important to celebrate so we can never forget where we came from and keep our heritage alive.”

The festivities also included several guest speakers like Andres Lara, “The Cuban Guy.” Lara is an international motivational speaker and expert speaker on diversity, Rosales said.

At 6:30 p.m. tonight in Heath Recital Hall, HALO will host an Open Forum Series featuring four Hispanic professionals from the Emporia community.

“They will speak about their life story, how they got to where they are now and any challenges that they faced,” Rosales said. “(These are) true stories from real Hispanic Emporians.”

The executive board of HALO will also travel to Omaha, Neb. next Friday through Sunday to attend the National Hispanic Leadership Conference. There are leadership activities as well as opportunities to network with other college students from different universities, said Pablo Loyola, sophomore engineering major.

HALO welcomes students that are not Hispanic and is a good way to gain leadership skills and opportunities, said Veronica Garcia, junior sociology major.

“HALO is a great addition to ESU in that like other multicultural organizations, we are giving students the chance to see a different scope of people, heritage, and lives,” Rosales said. “Diversity in America and ESU is so beautiful.”

Susan Welte

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The Hispanic American Leadership Organization several events this week to recruit new members and the provide information on the group’s mission.

“Recruitment week is used to promote HALO and let the ESU community what HALO does,” said Maria Zuniga, junior spanish secondary education major and vice president of HALO.

Throughout the week, HALO hosted the piñata scavenger hunt, a soccer tournament, a meet and greet reception and a luau barbeque.

But HALO does not only cater to students of Hispanic decent, the organization allows ESU affiliates of all nationalities to join.

“HALO caters to those individuals who are interested in enriching the ESU community and those who enjoy community work,” Zuniga said. “You don’t have to be Latino (or) Hispanic to join HALO. You also don’t have to speak Spanish. Anyone is welcome to join.”

Non-members taking part in recruitment activities expressed interest in the organization.

“HALO could be important to me because it encourages students to work hard for their education as Hispanic Latinos,” said Yasmine Rios, freshman history major.

Rios said some Hispanics often drop out of school or do not go to college, but HALO is support group for students.

“HALO does a lot of work with organizations within the community and I am not from here so it would let me get to know the city,” said Carrie Warren, freshman, nursing major.

After recruitment , HALO plans to continue student and community involvement during the fall, spring and summer semesters.

“The board is working with admission to organize Hispanic Leadership Day, where Emporia High students get a taste of what it is to be a Hornet,” Zuniga said.            Interested students can attend HALO’s next general meeting at 7 p.m., Sept. 14 in the Flint Hills room of the Memorial Union. 

SIMONE COSPER

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HALO hosted a traditional dance performance Wednesday afternoon in front of the Sunken Gardens. Ashley Wells/ The Bulletin.

Where can you get piñatas full of candy and Hispanic sweet bread?

Emporia State’s chapter of the Hispanic American Leadership organization hosted activities all of this week in an effort to increase membership.

“We are the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) and represent one of the minority groups on ESU campus,” said Manny Requenes,  sophomore pre-pharmacy major and president of HALO.

The week was organized to have HALO more visual to the ESU students.

“(HALO Week was established) to get more people involved in the organization,” said AraceliBaena-Pineda, senior biology major and secretary of HALO.

This week’s activities included a piñata decorating workshop held on Tuesday was a way to allow students converse with the leadership of HALO and to make colorful piñatas full of candy. Members also performed an authentic dance in the Sunken Gardens yesterday afternoon.

The Pan Dulce bake sale is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow in Union Square from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The message conveyed by the members is one that includes the education of students and the community in the Hispanic culture. Claudia Gomez, senior biology major and community service and fundraising chair, said being Hispanic is not a requirement.

“(We’re) getting the word out there, for people to know that there are more cultures out there. You don’t have to be a Hispanic to be in the organization, so you blend all the cultures together and see how we are different and similar at the same time,” Gomez said.

HALO has plans to take part in the National Hispanic Culture month taking place from Sept. 12 to Oct. 13. They plan to bring various speakers to talk about their experiences as Latinos in adapting. They are also co-sponsoring events with the Department of Agriculture.

The organization has also taken part in the Multicultural Day sponsored by Admissions.

“The HALO members go through training provided by Admissions to go through the entire day and take groups of students to each activity,” said ConchaDikin, HALO’s adviser.

HALO is always looking for new members, Hispanic or not. Dues are $10 a semester, which pays to get into all the events, regional conferences and presentations. For membership through the year, HALO is requiring $15 for dues ending on Sept. 22.

HALO’s website said, “The vision of HALO is ADELANTE, which means, move forward.”

Liz Coffey/The Bulletin.

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REEVES

Students who have been at Emporia State for a few years may have seen the Xbox 360 HALO character, the Master Chief, wandering around campus for the past two Halloweens. Although the Master Chief will not be making a comeback this year, Daniel Reeves, senior engraving major, said he has enjoyed his time as the Master Chief.

“I’m known around campus for being the Master Chief,” Reeves said. “I made a cardboard costume from the video game (HALO) and I’m pretty well known for that. I was going to do it for Halloween, but I’m unfortunately working.”

After the creating original version of the costume in 2007, Reeves updated the look of the Master Chief.

“I had planned to do something with the release of HALO 3 back in 2007,” Reeves said. “I didn’t really have a plan. I just took a lot of screen shots of the character in game and built it out of cardboard. It’s held together with duct tape and I hand painted it with acrylic paint.”

Reeves modified the costume to coincide with homecoming a few years ago.

“It was gold a few years ago for Homecoming,” Reeves said. “I got permission to put the power E on it. It was pretty cool.”

Reeves’ friends enjoy his designs.

“Can I say that the Iron Man is awesome?” said Raylynn Laster, sophomore elementary education major and friend of Reeves.

He even created other popular characters including Iron Man. With a change of method, Reeves also worked on Heath Ledger’s version of The Joker.

“I had a brief journey into cloth costumes,” he said. “I did a lot with face paint and artificial scars.”

Outside of his costume making skills, Reeves also has a hand for writing.

“For the past three years, I’ve been working on a novel that I hope to get published,” Reeves said.

Reeves got some motivation from one of his professors.

“I showed the first four chapters to one of my English teachers and she really liked it,” Reeves said. “She referred me to a writing seminar where I could get in contact with a publisher.”

The current title for the book is “The Dragon’s Gem.”

“He asked me to look over the documents,” said Theresa Mix, director of the writing center. “He’s highly creative. He had some really great imagery. I encouraged him to talk to Dr. Rabas in the creative writing program. He was very engaged in (my) class and I think that helped him and inspired him to pursue his book.”

Reeves also writes fan fiction for “Lord of the Rings” and HALO. He publishes on www.fanfiction.net under the name Spartan R41.

“He’s very quirky,” said Emily Readinger, sophomore English major.

Although Reeves hopes to find an audience with his book, he only refers to it as his hobby.

“I hope to be big,” he said. “My two biggest role models for writing are Christopher Paolini and Stephanie Meyer.”

Paolini is the author of the “Eragon” series. Meyer wrote the popular series “Twilight.”

“I was really a fan of (‘Eragon’),” Reeves said. “I figured if he could do it, so could I. I’m not a fan of ‘Twilight’ so I figured if something like that could get published than I should be in no trouble. That will probably agitate some people.”

Coming from a military family, Reeves moved around a lot when he was younger. Although born in Lawrence, he now claims Subiaco, Ark. as his hometown.

There he attended Subiaco Academy.

“The only reason that I went there is so that I wouldn’t have to go to three different high schools,” Reeves said.

Reeves was drawn to ESU’s engraving arts program.

“I’m arty,” he said. “I can’t remember if I received something in the mail or if we just heard about the engraving from somebody but we did hear that it was the only degree being offered nationwide so I figured that would be a good opportunity.”

Engraving is appealing for him because he can use the same skills that he uses when he draws.

“I engrave the same way that I draw,” Reeves said. “I’ve lost many of my drawings to water damage and tearing but I’m finding that metal is pretty solid. So my drawings are there. They stay. I can engrave more stuff than I can draw on.”

For Reeves, characters are more interesting inspiration for art than anything else.

“I mainly do character design and weapons,” Reeves said. “I do a lot of stuff from HALO as my friends would tell you. I can do landscapes if I really want to but it’s mostly figures.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

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